Have you ever gotten a dreadful feeling while you’re playing a game demo that you’ve had just too much fun, and you’re worried that your time is about to run out? I got that feeling about forty minutes into playing Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier, just around the time I managed to build up my first town after the tutorial, as bandits attacked my gold mine and some newly-arrived townspeople began fleeing from yet another showdown. Even though I had gunslingers working for me to fight the bandits so that I could focus on making new buildings and assigning new townspeople to jobs at the farms, I couldn’t help but feel as though things were getting too hectic, and that I would need another hour to sort things out. And that’s when I knew that the game had me hooked.

The sequel to Westward takes us all the way back to the Western frontier for another adventure in town-building, this time in glorious, Technicolor 3D, accompanied by classy soundtrack that really makes you feel like you’re out on a frontier world, even if it is the kind of Western world romanticized in story and song, rather than the dirty and grimy reality. It has a few things in common with real-time strategy games like Age of Empires, in that you’re supposed to build up your own community with more and more buildings and technology upgrades as well as defend it against enemies, while also having sim elements that require you to manage an economy and keep your townspeople happy. Since you have to accomplish a lot of this through one of three selectable heroes, it means you have to do a lot of clicking to select characters and move them around – and quite a lot of thinking and task management, as much as any you’ve likely seen in recent casual games.

There are quests to accomplish by gathering resources such as gold, wood and food, and plenty of upgrades to turn a tiny little mining camp into a bustling town with the amenities of civilization such as fountains, granaries, hotels and sheriffs. And you’ll also have to manage the townsfolk’s happiness by keeping them well-fed and maintaining the town’s buildings, while fighting off villainous bandits and dealing with natural disasters. If you’re not too careful you could cause your town to suffer lack of food or find yourself at the mercy of bandit attacks that leave your hero exhausted and unable to work – and as other reviewers have pointed out, there are certainly a lot of complicated rules and mechanisms to remember, just 10 minutes into playing this game.

However, with the complex gameplay comes a real depth and richness that you really can’t get from most casual games. You really come to care about what happens to every single citizen and building in your town, each with their own unique names – including some that are obviously taken from famous Western movies and TV shows. There’s a Sandbox mode for you to explore more maps in, and you can even download new free maps from Sandlot’s website. Like me, you may well find yourself wishing you could play for “just one more hour” to improve your little town on the frontier. And that has to be the single greatest recommendation I can give this game!

Graphics:
Gameplay:
Story:
Sound:
Overall Rating:

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...